I'm a Sparty fan but this is Tom Izzo's least-talented team in a while, especially with Malik Hall out injured. I mean, MSU just lost at home on Sunday to Northwestern, while Penn State is rested for its conference opener. I bet this only goes up. The Nittany Lions are 6-2 on the season, with the only two losses being a 2-point neutral-site defeat to Virginia Tech and a double-overtime road loss at Clemson. PSU is seeking back-to-back wins over Michigan State for the first time in program history and should get it.

The Nittany Lions have had eight days to prepare for Michigan State. It's a much quicker turnaround for the Spartans, who lost at home Sunday to Northwestern. Penn State leads the Big Ten in 3-point shooting (40.4) and will face a Spartans team that sorely misses Malik Hall, who is out with a foot injury. In MSU's first four games with Hall playing, the Spartans went 3-1 with the loss coming by one point to Gonzaga. They limited those four opponents to 39 percent shooting. Since then, they've gone 2-3 while allowing 45 percent shooting. MSU sophomore guard Jaden Akins returned from his own foot injury last time out, but he went 1 for 6 in 23 minutes and looked winded at times. Lay the points.